Marie-Anne Le Tellier
Marie-Anne Le Tellier (born 3 May, 1732) is an abbess from the House Le Tellier. The third and eldest surviving daughter of Louis-Michel Le Tellier, she joined the church quite ardently when she was fairly young. Early Life and Family Marie-Anne was born on the third day of May, 1732. Her mother, Marie Josephine de Saint-Simon, was the younger child of the Duc de Saint-Simon. Her father was the future Marquis de Louvois. As an infant, she was the youngest of the Three Pearl Marie's, though this nickname was shortlived; her older two sisters died in an outbreak of a bad fever. Being only a year old at the time, Marie-Anne remembers virtually none of what her elder sisters were like. That being said, she has a miniature of each of them as toddlers, kept in a black, wool-lined box, along with miniatures of her parents and other siblings. This is the only thing she keeps from her childhood other than her childhood prayer books. Marie-Anne was by far closes to her elder brother. she saw him as a friend and kind person, in spite of his generally cold and emotionless demeanor.they were separated by 3 years of age, but the two were known to joke like old friends before the younger even reached age 8. He, along with most of the family, were known to call her "Marianne," a name that only they, along with their most trusted friends, were to call her. Marie-Anne's childhood was fraught with strict tutelage and frequent, though minor, illness. She would often scolded by her tutor, though rarely corporeally punished. Marie-Anne would excel in Greek, Latin, German, and oddly enough, theology. Unlike her brothers, she was not taught politics, nor was she taught the same philosophy of her brothers, as she skipped most of the lessons that were non-religious. She spent much of her time outside of being tutored reading the books of her father's friend, the late and great Cardinal de Mortemart. Her father couldn't find them fast enough for her it seemed, and much of his words greatly influenced her thoughts on religion. The only other things she would do with such gusto is embroidery, as taught by her step-mother, and gardening. The worst part of her childhood would come in 1737. The death of her mother was, needless to say a heartbreaking enough. Though they were hardly close, the poor girl had a good relationship with her, and the loss of such was near-traumatizing. At only age 5, she suffered from a terrible bout of fever. She was bedridden for 2 weeks at the family's residence at a cousin's residence, and nearly died. This is the primary reason why none of her father's children were in attendance at the wedding between him and Emilie-Christine de Blois de Penthievre, as they all were with many of their infant cousins at their cousin, Louise Marguerite Le Tellier (nee Rochechouart de Mortemart). By some miracle, however, she recovered and quietly swore to join the church if given the opportunity for being given such a chance at life. Marie-Anne was relatively close to her new step-mother after the birth of her new twin half-sisters and youngest brother, though she was not very close to the new siblings. She would write to her step-mother frequently, but would only speak to her half-siblings on rare occasions. Being 6 years senior to her younger sisters, she was seen as an example, but a very faint example for them to follow. Marie-Anne spent much of her time in her room at Louvois, which was next door to her elder brother's, reading and writing prayers down with a fervent sense of piety. Her elder brother was known to joke of Marie-Anne to their tutor when she missed a session "Her brain is shaped like a crosier I'm sure of it, either that or she has a little monk in there running her humors." The Family's tutor stopped offering Marie-Anne tutelage at age 12. She had excelled in the few subjects she took to heart, which the tutor did acknowledge, but her failure to attend for sessions in mathematics, English, and harpsichord had frustrated the poor man beyond belief. The final word of advice he had to the girl was to "either join the church and spend the day embroidering, or marry and spend the day ogling to some poor gentleman being sucked into such an uncultured little fat-faced wiesel." Needless to say, Marie-Anne was not present for such a word; it had to be delivered by her brother, Charles. Joining the Church At only age 14, Marie-Anne was set to go to the clergy as she'd promised herself at age only 6. There was one problem, however: her father had no idea of her intention and had been trying to see her married off as soon as possible since her birth. That being said, Louis-Michel had problems of his own trying to find a suitable match for his daughter. He was absent from court for long expanses at a time, thus eliminating many of his options from his friend circle near the elites. Atop this, he was in the middle of the many conflicts known as the Provincials Affairs. This consumed much of his time when he wasn't at court, and thus made it even more difficult for him to find a match among the lower castes of nobles: Jean Louis de Beauchamps. Finally Louis-Michel arranged for a marriage to take place, only for the marriage to fall through when the groom died very suddenly within weeks of the arrangement. Louis decided to meet with his daughter a few days after receiving word of the poor man's passing and discuss her future. Marie-Anne was reluctant at first, but as soon as he mentioned her being sent off to the church, needless to say there was no effort of resistance. Deciding where she would be sent, however, was an entirely different matter. Originally, Marie-Anne had wished to go to Fontevraud. A prestigious place, it was Marie-Anne's first choice. It would have been her father's as well, had he not been in somewhat tight of a financial situation. Louis offered countless places in Champagne, but Marie had no interest in being so close to home, for fear of distraction. Finally, the Abbaye de Molaise came up. Marie-Anne was enthusiastic. Becoming an Abbess Marie-Anne went in whole-hog to become a nun and took the religious nomenclature, being given the religious name "Marie-Anne Emeline" and followed every instruction without question. She worked so hard on duties and study that she allegedly almost collapsed one day from exhaustion. She finished her studies an entire month early, having only spent 7 months, one month longer than the absolute lowest time it may take. As a novice Sister, Marianne, referred to as Soeur Marie-Anne Emeline, worked in the infirmary for the first portion of her tenure before solemn vows. there she tended to the ill with great care. She followed a very strict regimen of only bread and water for her diet, and wore only garments of haircloth. She spent hours on end at her post, fulfilling her duties diligently enough to advance somewhat quickly. The final half of her life before solemn vows were spent where needed: tending gardens. As a child, she truly enjoyed a simple life of tending to the flowers at Louvois, but at Molaise, she worked in the herbs and vegetable gardens. Her intense work continued in this position, and learned quickly the transitional difference. Sister Marie-Anne Emeline would be known as "The sister of little sleep" as she would work almost constantly when she was not studying or in her hours of prayer. The abbess at the time noted to the Diocese in 1749 that Marianne had "become a woman blessed with the energy of an army and the competence in position known in her family, and atop this the devotion of our Saint Robert de Molesme himself. She is a dutiful pupil that I see in no other." In January of 1750, Marie-Anne Emeline took her vows as an officially consecrated nun of the Cistercian Order. She was utterly overjoyed, and began her duties of managing the herb garden. She spent most of her free time dutifully following out with her charge, and the remainder in prayer or helping the elder Sisters work on tapestry or embroidery work. After 8 years of service, Sister Marie-Anne Emeline was changed in duties to care for the aged nuns still residing in the Abbey. She spent every day making sure that the elderly women were cared for when needed, kept company when needed, and able to continue carrying out their duties in their advanced age. This work ended up paying off. So many Sisters saw her intensive and selfless care, even if distant, and admired her competence and unwavering devotion. This would help her immensely in the coming months, as tragedy was to strike a nearby Abbaye. On the first day of September, 1759, the Abbesse at Tart, Marie-Henriette Clairvauxine de Vergy, died at the age of 71. She had served as Abbesse for 33 years, though left it in much decline into decadence after only 20 years of success. The entire Abbaye went into mourning, however they had to prepare for a new abbesse. Because of her family standing and good reputation, the Sovereign agreed to nominate Marie-Anne. Her young age proved to be only slightly problematic. The Holy See saw no problem in granting dispensation, considering that she had only been 2 and a half years too young. They easily granted such appointment, and Marie-Anne Emeline became the next Mother Superior. Tenure Sister Marie-Anne Emeline became Mother Superior in a formal blessing ceremony that took place in the early morning hours of 18 October, 1759. Her tenure began very shortly following such, working to manage a few issues that her predecessors had neglected. By the spring of 1760, a new herb garden was organized. The production of wine at the Abbaye de Tart continued very strongly under the Mother Superior's guidance, and more reforms became very prevalent. Self-Sufficiency was restored after over a decade of over-reliance on gifts that were few and far between. Even the failing of the moral codes that the sisters were expected to respect were returned to the abbey, and a new beginning for the centuries old abbey resumed. This is not to say that Mother Superior did so alone. From her time as a low nun, she had a consistent correspondence with a counterpart, the Abbesse of Fontevraud, Marie-Augustine Thérèse de Rochechouart de Mortemart. The Mortemart clerics were known to be competent for a reason, and Marie-Anne sought to follow their example in any way she saw as a personal shortcomings on her own part. Personality and Appearance Marie-Anne was known to be somewhat of a quiet individual. The person she most spoke to in her childhood was, of course, her elder brother. Everyone else around her noted of her courtesies, but many saw a lack of sentimentality to most of her livelihood. She was distant to most of her family, save her brother, and mostly spoke to him about religious things after she joined the convent. She showed her affection by making handkerchiefs for family members and friends, which she would personalize with embroidery. Otherwise, she was well-noted to be particularly plain. She refused to partake in most gossip, only paying attention to the utterly mundane. One could say she was easily impressed by simple things as well. Strongly pious, most of her discussions take the nature of religion, embroidery, and gardening, her only 3 passions in truth. This being said, she is known to be very capable and efficient in her charges. Unlike in her childhood, she was responsible and executed any and all duties to the best of her true abilities as an Abbess. Perhaps this is because her charges were with an institution that she had genuine interest and investment in: the Church. In regards to her appearance, Marie-Anne was known to be very plain. Her face was in shape and demeanor much like her father. Like her father, she had very kind eyes, though she had a rounder face. Her skin was a shade not unlike her father's as well. Her most striking feature was her nose, which looked almost like a caricature of the rest of her family's nose. One cruel nickname of hers was "the Parrot Lizard," in reference to her nose and the lizards on her house's Crest.Category:House Le Tellier Category:Grandelumierian Nobility Category:Grandelumierian Clergy __FORCETOC__